Bedřich Smetana - String Quartets No. 1 in E minor "From My Life" and No. 2 in D minor Antonín Dvořák - String Quartets No. 10 in E-flat major, Op. 51 "Slavonic," No. 12 in F major, Op. 96 "American" and No. 13 in G major, Op. 106 Josef Suk - Meditation On an Old Czech Hymn "St. Wenceslas" Op. 35a Vítězslav Novák - String Quartet No. 2 in D major, Op. 35 Leoš Janáček - String Quartet No. 1 "The Kreutzer Sonata" and No. 2 "Intimate Letters"
The Smetana Quartet, The Panocha Quartet, The Škampa Quartet
The string quartet is a genre that was neglected by few great composers of the Romantic era, and the Czech masters contributed a number of significant works to its international repertoire. Smetana's quartet "From My Life," Dvořák's "American" quartet and Janáček's "Intimate Letters" rank among the mature works of their composers and have become essential repertoire for quartets throughout the world. Furthermore, Dvořák and Suk founded an uninterrupted interpretational tradition which gave rise to a number of world-famous Czech ensembles. A direct line of descent can be traced from the Smetana Quartet, which has performed Smetana's music on hundreds of concert stages, to the Panocha Quartet, which has recorded a highly esteemed recording of the complete Dvořák quartets, and also to the Škampa Quartet, whose Janáček seethes with inimitable raw energy.
This compilation offers the best-known works of the Czech quartet repertoire performed by the greatest masters of the art.
CD 1 1String Quartet No. 1 in E minor ('Z mého, zivota,' 'From My Life'), JB 1:105: 1. Allegro vivo appassionato 2String Quartet No. 1 in E minor ('Z mého, zivota,' 'From My Life'), JB 1:105: 2. Allegro moderato á la polka 3String Quartet No. 1 in E minor ('Z mého, zivota,' 'From My Life'), JB 1:105: 3. Largo sostenuto 4String Quartet No. 1 in E minor ('Z mého, zivota,' 'From My Life'), JB 1:105: 4. Vivace 5String Quartet No. 2 in D minor, JB 1:124: 1. Allegro 6String Quartet No. 2 in D minor, JB 1:124: 2. Allegro moderato - Andante cantabile 7String Quartet No. 2 in D minor, JB 1:124: 3. Allegro non più moderato, ma agitato e con fuoco 8String Quartet No. 2 in D minor, JB 1:124: 4. Finale. Presto 9String Quartet No. 10 in E flat major, B. 92 (Op. 51): 1. Allegro, ma non troppo 10String Quartet No. 10 in E flat major, B. 92 (Op. 51): 2. Dumka (Elegia). Andante con moto - Vivace 11String Quartet No. 10 in E flat major, B. 92 (Op. 51): 3. Romanza. Andante con moto 12String Quartet No. 10 in E flat major, B. 92 (Op. 51): 4. Finale. Allegro assai
CD 2 1String Quartet No. 12 in F major ('American'), B. 179 (Op. 96): 1. Allegro, ma non troppo 2String Quartet No. 12 in F major ('American'), B. 179 (Op. 96): 2. Lento 3String Quartet No. 12 in F major ('American'), B. 179 (Op. 96): 3. Molto vivace 4String Quartet No. 12 in F major ('American'), B. 179 (Op. 96): 4. Finale. Vivace, ma non troppo 5String Quartet No. 13 in G major, B. 192 (Op. 106): 1. Allegro moderato 6String Quartet No. 13 in G major, B. 192 (Op. 106): 2. Adagio, ma non troppo 7String Quartet No. 13 in G major, B. 192 (Op. 106): 3. Molto vivace 8String Quartet No. 13 in G major, B. 192 (Op. 106): 4. Finale. Andante sostenuto - Allegro con fuoco 9Meditation on an Old Czech Hymn 'St. Wenceslas' for strings/string quartet, Op 35a
CD 3 1String quartet No 2 in D major, Op 35: 1. Fuga. Largo misterioso 2String quartet No 2 in D major, Op 35: 2. Fantasia. Allegro passionato ma non troppo presto - Quasi scherzo. Allegretto moderato, ben 3String Quartet No. 1 ('Kreutzer Sonata'), JW 7/8: 1. Adagio. Con moto 4String Quartet No. 1 ('Kreutzer Sonata'), JW 7/8: 2. Con moto 5String Quartet No. 1 ('Kreutzer Sonata'), JW 7/8: 3. Con moto. Vivo. Andante 6String Quartet No. 1 ('Kreutzer Sonata'), JW 7/8: 4. Con moto. Adagio. Maestoso 7String Quartet No. 2 ('Listy duverné,' 'Intimate Letters'), JW 7/13: 1. Andante 8String Quartet No. 2 ('Listy duverné,' 'Intimate Letters'), JW 7/13: 2. Adagio 9String Quartet No. 2 ('Listy duverné,' 'Intimate Letters'), JW 7/13: 3. Moderato 10String Quartet No. 2 ('Listy duverné,' 'Intimate Letters'), JW 7/13: 4. Allegro